Last season, Syracuse was coming off the big snub by the NCAA Tournament selection committee and was given its props early, being picked to finish 5th in the conference.

A couple ACL tears, departures, meal card incidents, and 2nd half breakdowns later, Syracuse ended up 9th in the conference and on the outside looking in again for the big dance.

Syracuse had its "props" in October last year. Who would have rather had it then than in March?

Didn't think so.

If the whole "lack of respect" thing or the "no one believes in us" thing is what floats your boat then, hey, have at it.

I'm not going down that road quite yet.

Honestly, I did raise an eyebrow seeing Syracuse ranked 8th in the coaches' poll. But I didn't consider it a lack of respect.

More like a dose of reality.

Let's remember that Syracuse has missed the NCAA Tournament for two straight years. Yes that includes the "snub" and a season full of injuries last season. That doesn't change reality though. It is what it is. The last two seasons...no tournament.

Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard 2008

Prior to this down cycle of NCAA Tournament appearances by the Orange, Syracuse was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round for two straight seasons. Can we all agree that isn't exactly a reason for the coaches or media who vote in those polls to be motivated to place Syracuse above some teams on the list?

There is no doubt things look good for this season.

Jonny Flynn may be the best point guard in college basketball.

Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins are back (have you heard?) and ready to give Syracuse more of a perimeter threat than Donte Greene chucking up everything that came his way.

Arinze Onuaku is a year older and ready to assault some more backboards.

Paul Harris really came on in the 2nd half of last season and should be primed for a huge junior season.

Add in a healthy dose of Kristof Ongenaet, a pair of freshman turning heads in Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph, Jim Boeheim saying he is going to play nine players, and the continuing failures of the SU Football team, let's just say there is a lot of excitement heading into the season.

Hey, I'm excited.

But I'm also aware of what is ahead.

Doug Gottlieb, Dick Vitale, or anyone who regularly likes to pick on Jim Boeheim for his pre-conference schedule will have no ammo to fire this year. Not with Florida, Memphis, Kansas or Washington, and Virginia all on the slate before Big East play begins on Dec 30.

By the way, I'll make sure of that with Vitale. He is scheduled to come on my radio show Friday at 3:15 p.m. *cough*...shameless plug...*cough*

We all know how loaded the Big East is this year. Louisville coach Rick Pitino said at Big East media day on Wednesday that it will be the best conference ever.

All righty then. That about covers it.

Not to mention, wouldn't you rather be laying in the weeds right now? Seems better to let someone else wear the heavy crown of expectations before we see just how good this team can be.

If that preseason respect is your thing, fact is Syracuse is getting some props. Most preseason polls have them either in the Top 25 or just outside it. Anyone worth a darn who covers college hoops knows what happened with last year's team and that they were still in the NCAA Tournament conversation right to the end despite all the adversity. I would agree with anyone that adding a healthy Devendorf and Rautins to that equation has to be worth something in the meaningless preseason prognostication department.

Respect is something that is earned over time, not handed out like Halloween candy.

This version of the Syracuse Orange will have plenty of opportunities to earn it over the course of the 2008-09 season.

In the meantime, I suggest you get by with this.

Axeman
baxeman@yahoo.com

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Brent Axe is also the host of "On the Block" heard weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1260 in Syracuse. You can listen to the show online by clicking right here